Tough to do on that budget. Might be possible though.

Checking October flights from MSY, you can fly Delta for $1,688 per person. The beauty of Delta is they have a direct flight ATL-JNB-CPT. Takes about 20-23 hours from MSY.

The cheapest flight is United/Lufthansa connecting through Frankfurt. It’s only $1,060 per person. Takes 35 hours though. Still, on your budget $1,200 is a big savings.

Your budget doesn’t allow stopping in Johannesburg for a few days at Kruger National Park, so you need to stay in Cape Town. Cape Town is one of the world’s great cities, so well worth the trip.

You need to rent a car. Get small and cheap with an automatic. Driving in South Africa is super easy. The roads are great and everyone obeys the rules. The only complication is driving on the left and dealing with a few roundabouts. Traffic lights are called robots! Your phone gps will work great.

There are private game preserves within a 2-hour drive of Capetown. Head out on the N2 with a stop in wine country (Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franchoek) on your way to Aquila Private Game Preserve. Runs $280-400 per night.

I would stay in Camps Bay. It’s a beach community on the outskirts of Cape Town. Clifton has great beaches you can walk to from your hotel. Plenty of nearby restaurants. It’s safe - which is a big deal in South Africa— with easy access to the waterfront, Table Mountain, Cape Point and the motorway for your trip on the N2. You can get a great hotel for around $135 per night. Once you get there, your dollar goes a long way.

For shark diving, you can arrange a tour where they pick you up in Camps Bay for the drive to Hermanus. Take a double dose of Dramamine. It’s a great experience but you boat crew will be taking bets on how many people end up heaving over the side.

Be sure to drive to Cape Point for a day - going one way on Chapman’s Peak. It’s one of the worlds best (and most hair raising) scenic drives. Come back via Simons Town to see the penguins at Boulders Beach.

Take the cable car up Table Montain. Visit the waterfront and take a boat to Robben Island. Go paragliding off Signal Hill.

Food is amazing. Be sure to try Cape Malay food. Fish is fantastic, especially snoek and kingkloep. Try the crayfish - which is what they call the local lobster. Try ostrich steak and springbok. The local lamb is excellent.

Weather in Cape Town is generally fantastic. Very similar to San Diego. It can get wet and windy in winter though. Since it is Southern Hemisphere the seasons are reversed.

Covid wise, South Africa is behind us with vaccinations plus they have that nasty variant. At the moment, their borders are closed. They might open up this fall or even sooner, yet you need to be flexible especially if you want to go this year. I would absolutely not go unless you are vaccinated. I am booked for a trip in early August. I seriously doubt I will be able to go. Hope I’m wrong as I am so ready to go back.

If you can swing do it. It would be an amazing honeymoon.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by LSUfan4444

Member since Mar 2004

56896 posts

Posted on 4/1/21 at 5:10 am to SpringBokCock

quote:
Checking October flights from MSY, you can fly Delta for $1,688 per person. The beauty of Delta is they have a direct flight ATL-JNB-CPT. Takes about 20-23 hours from MSY.

I know thats a popular option but we prefer British Airways/American from MSY to London/Heathrow then from there to Cape Town. Overall travel time is more but it can be arranged where you have both flights (msy - lhr and lhr - cpt) overnight and can spend an entire day in London between your flights and instead of that long trek from MSY to JBG it's broken up a little more evenly into two flights. Just my personal opinion though.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by SpringBokCock

Columbia, SC

Member since Oct 2003

3192 posts

Posted on 4/1/21 at 6:04 am to LSUfan4444

Yeah, it’s a brutal flight unless you can spring for business class. It’s amazing how disgusting an airplane cabin can get after 16 hours.

The BA flight runs $1,512 per person so still costs $1,000 more than Lufthansa. Both have long layovers in Europe, so you get your break on the ground in the airport.

OP has such a tight budget that he can’t afford a London stop or even the airport hotel. OTOH they’re young so they can handle a little discomfort way better than an old codger like me.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by LSUfan4444

Member since Mar 2004

56896 posts

Posted on 4/1/21 at 8:57 am to SpringBokCock

quote:
Both have long layovers in Europe, so you get your break on the ground in the airport.

OP has such a tight budget that he can’t afford a London stop or even the airport hotel. OTOH they’re young so they can handle a little discomfort way better than an old codger like me.

We've done it before where we purposefully extended the layover during the day and left the airport and spent the day in London. Stored the checked bags in the airport, spent the day in pubs and such then went back to the airport that afternoon and flew from london to CPT that night and slept on the plane. Again, longer total travel time but slept from US to London, then a day in London, then slept from London to CPT and landed ready to roll in CPT.

We used the flights as our "hotel" each night and spent the middle travel day in London.

This post was edited on 4/1/21 at 8:58 am

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by Bayou_Tiger_225

Third Earth

Member since Mar 2016

12622 posts

Posted on 4/1/21 at 8:45 pm to Nighthawk504

I've done the whole South Africa trip and can say it is easily my favorite place I have ever been.

All of SpringBok's recommendations are fantastic. I'd add to his list that you can go ATV riding in the Sands Dunes about an hour north of the city, and it is very fun.

Currently looking into planning my honeymoon trip there as well. However we plan on spending our whole time between JoBurg and a private game reserve. The Savanna lodge in Sabi Sands Private game reverse offers a pretty decent honeymoon deal. Bride is 50% off if you stay at least 3 nights.

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by BootheelSoldier